Barely a few weeks after the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, assured the Christian community that he would engage President John Dramani Mahama on mobilising support for the National Cathedral project, he has now stated that the government will not fund the project and that the contractor has even been ordered to hand over the site back to the government.
During his vetting by Parliament on August 27, 2026 Mr Ayariga gave his personal opinion on the project and assured Ghanaians that he would engage the President on the matter.
Mr Ayariga said although he had concerns about the location of the project and believed that more private and philanthropic support should have been mobilised, he was prepared to engage the leadership of the Christian community and the President.
He told the Parliamentary Appointments Committee: “If I am approved by this House and I become the Minister responsible for Chieftaincy Affairs, I will engage the leadership of the Christian community in this country.
“And I want to assure you that if they remain committed to the construction of a National Cathedral, I will engage the President. And if it is the wish of the President, I will wholeheartedly support and mobilise for the project to be continued and, God willing, completed.”
Prior to Mr Ayariga’s statement, the state-owned Daily Graphic reported on August 12, 2026 under the headline: “We will not use taxpayers’ money for the National Cathedral project -President Mahama”.
According to the report, President Mahama said he disagreed with using taxpayers’ money to fund the National Cathedral project, arguing that the Christian community had the numbers and resources to raise the funds needed to complete it.
Speaking during a citizens’ engagement in Wa on September 12, 2026 President Mahama said he had no objection to the construction of a National Cathedral because he was also a Christian.
However, he said he disagreed with the location chosen by the previous administration, arguing that the area was already congested, with Parliament House, the Accra International Conference Centre, the National Theatre and the Greater Accra Regional Hospital located within the same vicinity.
President Mahama said the project, which was started by the previous administration, should be treated differently from other policies inherited from the previous administration that he had pledged to continue.
However, addressing the media yesterday, at the Government Accountability Series at the Jubilee House, Mr Ayariga gave a different indication of the government’s position on the project.
“On the National Cathedral, I think government has been very, very clear. Number one, government says that government is not ready to put one single cedi in any further construction work at the National Cathedral site. So no government money is going into the construction of a National Cathedral.”
According to Mr Ayariga, President Mahama has also directed the dissolution of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, which was established to oversee the construction of the project.
He explained that since government had decided against committing public funds to the project, it no longer considered the Board of Trustees relevant in its current form.
“And because we don’t intend to have government money going into it, we don’t think the Board of Trustees remains relevant as constituted as an agency of government. And so I have sent a letter to the board members informing them that they have been dissolved,” he said.
On the future of the site, Mr Ayariga said the contractor had been directed to hand it over to the state. He explained that since the site was state property, he had directed the contractor to hand it over to the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs pending further government directives.
According to him, the Attorney General was reviewing a forensic audit into expenditure related to the initial plans to construct the National Cathedral under the previous administration.
He said government would determine the next steps after receiving the Attorney General’s advice.
“But for now, the Board of Trustees stands dissolved and the site reverts to the Ministry of Local Government,” he said.
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